My Favorite Designs

My family and I are currently in the process of looking for a new home in the outskirts of Pasadena, CA. Even though the real estate market out here is extremely competitive, we are still keeping a positive mental attitude about the whole process. I’m always interested in good design, whether it be architectural, clothing, cars, you name it. Throughout the past few months, my focus has strongly been on home and room design. This is really only because we in the process of finding a new place to live, so that is what’s on my mind during the day. With all of that being said, I wanted to make a page about my favorite designs in the world of home and room design.

Home Wallpaper

They say that wallpaper is making a comeback in the interior design world. Many people in the past have disliked wallpaper due to how difficult it is to remove it if you ever were to decide to go with a different wall covering. New types of wallpaper adhesives aim to reduce this hassle with easy release glues.

Credit: StyleCaster.com

While I can’t say that I’ve tried these new products for myself, I could definitely learn to appreciate them. When we moved into our current home we had to remove wallpaper from both of the bathrooms. Let me tell you that if you haven’t done that before, it’s not the type of job that you will enjoy doing.

Now, back to the design of the wallpaper itself. I have always been partial to geometric wallpaper designs. I feel that this provides more of a timeless look that is less likely to go out of style in the next season on two. While geometric designs are probably my favorite, I do appreciate many of the newer embossed styles that provide the benefit of warm and inviting textures.

If you’re looking for some great physical wallpaper for your home, Graham & Brown has some excellent choices.

Desktop Wallpaper

Credit: SubtlePatterns.com

When working with front end web development, it can often be hard to find the right backgrounds to use in your designs. If you’ve designed sites before, I’m sure that you can relate to this. When you do some searching for interesting backgrounds or textures you’ll soon notice that many of them are just too much to handle. By this I mean that most are just too ‘busy.’

You want something that is going to be interesting while complementing the design. But, what you don’t want is something that will distract the user from the main content of the website – which is what we really want their attention to be on.

I have found the SubtlePatterns.com really gets this whole concept. They provide many different textures that are the perfect fit for a huge variety of front end web design and even graphic design projects. Make sure to check them out when you’re looking for a texture on your next project.

Concrete Countertops

The first thing that I wanted to take a look at with you is concrete. I know, I know. Concrete isn’t always the first thing that you think of when you’re looking for high end finishes. Concrete often provokes an industrial and sometimes even dirty feeling. I’ve been obsessed with the use of concrete in home design for a few months.

Credit: AreaRugHomeDecor.com

Something about properly finished concrete gives a clean, modern feel that I really like to have around. One of the best parts about using concrete is that it can be done relatively cheap, when you do it yourself that is.

Indoor Gardens

Credit: Dezeen.com

Another design theme that I am totally enamored with is that of indoor gardens, or more specifically, bringing nature indoors. I believe that a lot of the discontent that the modern human being feels, on a fundamental level, is due to a disconnect with nature. While you don’t need to hug a tree every morning to survive, you must admit that many of us are so cut off from the natural world that it just isn’t normal. Especially when you are looking back on the totality of human history. This separation from nature is a relatively modern artifact of our culture.
In any case, I think bringing plants indoors is a no-brainer design move to help quell these negative emotions. There are many practical benefits to having plants inside the home, apart from a purely aesthetic/design perspective (and the hippy vibe.) Plants will do their part in helping improve the indoor air quality of your home. If you pick the right plants, they can even end up on your dinner plate! Starting something like an indoor herb garden is a great way to add a beautiful conversation piece to your living room, while at the same time cheaply providing nutrient-dense plants that can drastically increase the flavor of your home-cooked meals as well.

There is a vast array of different methods when it comes to how you’re actually going to integrate plants into your home. You can spend as little or as much money as you want. However, t’s fairly easy to start a simple integration that will get a smile going across your face.